A Dark Birth
by Nightgem
Summary: Some time after KH2, Kairi, Riku, and Sora have fallen back into life on Destiny Islands. But when a girl washes up on the beach with no past, no marks, and no clothes, the gang discovers the Darkness has one final trick to pull. *DROPPED*
1. The Birth

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the lovable characters within it, unfortunately. However, I DO own this fanfic, so please do not repost, or in any way use what it contains without getting my permission. Thanks!

**A/N: **This is my first fanfic on this site! I'm sorry if anything seems off: I've only played the original two games, so I don't know anything about the Organization XII characters or what happened after KH2, if anything did. If you want me to post more chapters, please feel free to leave a review! I had so much fun writing this, so I really hope people enjoy it. Without further ado, enjoy!

The sound of waves was the first thing that ever filled my world beyond the darkness. The soft rushing of water washed over my blank mind, freeing the chains that held me there. In the moment that I heard my first sound, I became alive. What was once nothing became mass, substantial and tangible. I took my first breath, felt my heart begin to beat. Blackness gave way to a lighter orange as I noticed the sun shining through my closed eyelids. My skin began to itch from the sand beneath me. And finally, I felt the water touch my toes, leaving a cold dampness as the tide receded back, only to come again a moment later. For the first time, I was real.

Something though, was preventing my movement. I could not open my eyes or move my legs or hands. I was left in this state, laying there as I was with no way to explore. It was maddening, feeling life and being unable to do anything about it. Stuck inside perpetual thought. I didn't know what I was or where I was, and the eagerness I felt to find out was overwhelming. There was no extra weight restricting my movements, nothing holding me down or gluing my eyes shut. I wondered if something was perhaps wrong with me, although I had no knowledge as to what it could have been. The instinct that was telling me to move though was being denied.

The second sound I ever heard was a voice a long time later. I had no way of telling the passage of time, but I was much hotter and the water now rarely left my feet and was getting increasingly closer to my knees.

"I think there's someone over there!" It was a light, higher voice. It took me longer than I expected to decipher what each word meant. I was not used to language, just feeling. But my brain had been given the required knowledge to put a meaning to the sounds. I was not sure how I knew this, or how I knew anything beyond existence for that matter. There was nothing in my mind that gave me a clue.

I heard sand being stepped on and felt a presence close to my face. There were places on my body which were cooler now, and the light was no longer piercing through my eyelids as harshly.

"Hey, are you alright?" I heard. I couldn't understand if she was referring to me or not, and I wasn't sure if I had the capability to respond. "Hey!" was called louder, closer to my ear. I took a deep breath and exhaled a bit more forcefully, the only sound I knew how to make. I heard a similar noise repeated back to me, but wasn't sure if it was meant as a form of communication or not.

"Thank goodness," was said quieter. Then the sun was in my eyelids again, but I still felt the presence close to my face. "Hey guys! Over here! She's unconscious but she's still breathing!" _She? _Was that in reference to myself? Was I a she? _She means female, the fertile member of any species. _That meant I was female then. Why?

More shuffling of sand, probably two more entities. The all stopped before they went over me, however I felt one end up on the opposite side of the first.

"Can you guys help me lift her?"

"I got it. Hold her head incase she's hurt." This voice was different, deeper and not as smooth. I felt pressure on the back of my head, then around my shoulders and the back of my thighs. Then suddenly the sand underneath me and the water were pulled away, my weight now resting on whatever it was that was moving me. The first movement was jerkier and for the first time I felt my arm move as it swung a bit, then in the same moment I was once again resting, only this time there were spaces of emptiness in between the pressure.

"Jeez Riku, careful." This one sounded different from the other two as well, however was more closely matched to the second voice than the first.

"I didn't expect her to be so light!" The word made my fingers twitch, the first time I could move by myself. I felt my joints pushing and my small muscles working and it was something so new my mind jumped a bit at the unexpectedness of it. I felt the pressure underneath my head leave for a moment, but before my head even had the chance to fall backwards the pressure was replaced with something firmer. I felt like I was partially cased in something, and realized with amazement it was another body. Not like mine though. This one was much firmer then the smoothness I felt in the beginning.

"Sora, can you put your shirt over her? Whoever she is, she deserves some decency," the highest voice said.

"Oh, right." A moment later a new kind of pressure was felt over my upper body and ending at the top of my legs. It was very light, however I felt a bit cooler, as if it was blocking the sun. The material was soft, and didn't feel like anything I had on my own body. I wished I could see what it was, so desperately. But still, nothing was listening to what I was saying to it. It was as if my mind was disconnected to the rest of me. Did I come out wrong? Or maybe my existence was only temporary?

"Let's take her to my house," the higher voice offered.

"Kairi, we don't know who she is. She might be dangerous," the deeper voice said. Dangerous… was he thinking I posed a threat? What harm could I do? His voice sounded much closer than the others, in fact it seemed as if I could feel it coming from whatever it was my ear was pressed up against. I deduced quickly after that he was the force that was holding me up. I believed that was called being carried.

"Let's take her to the tree house!" The medium voice's way of speaking was interesting. It made my lips twitch upward a little bit, but they fell back.

"Alright, Mr. Grumpy-Pants?" the highest voice replied. That was a bit amusing too, I thought.

"Fine." Breeze picked up on my face and I heard the sand being kicked underneath them again. I also felt myself rocking slightly. They were moving, and they were taking me with them. I wasn't sure what a tree house was, but based on the meanings of the words I could guess the final destination: a shelter made from a tree, or perhaps inside the tree.

"Do you think… she was in a fire?" the highest voice asked. I began to worry I looked burned. Maybe I had been in a fire before, I didn't know.

"No. Her skin doesn't even have a freckle, let alone a scar. It looks more like she's never left her room in her life."

"But… she doesn't have any hair on her body, minus what's on her head. Don't tell me neither of you noticed. The only thing I could think of was a fire."

"We'll have to ask her when she wakes up," the medium voice offered. I wouldn't have an explanation because I didn't know. I wasn't even aware why I was female; there was no possible way for me to know the little details such as that. The sound of the waves was getting further and further away, however it didn't leave me.

As the silence dragged on, my thoughts slowly became less and less coherent. I tried to hold on to whatever my presence was now, but I began to drift away. Eventually, I even stopped feeling the rocking as I was moved, and I faded back into the black I had just come from.


	2. What's In a Name?

"Hey. Hey guys! I think she's coming to," was the sound that pierced my brain. The surface I laid on now was much harder, more solid. It took me a moment to remember what was going on. The only memory in my brain however, was the way in which I arrived here. There was nothing else. My fluttering eyelids opened in shock, and I was bombarded by color and light, something I had never experienced before. For the first second everything was blended together, and I couldn't tell the difference between one thing and the next. As it cleared however, I began to notice distinct shapes, and shapes within those shapes. The closest ones to me were two heads, their eyes both looking down at me. One had long red hair and the other had shorter, spiky brown. Their structures were somehow different, although it was difficult for me to tell how.

"Are you alright?" the red head asked me. It was the same higher voice I had heard either. I put two and two together and realized she was female, just like I was supposed to be. I wasn't sure how to answer her question, so I looked over at the next one, who was on my other side.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you," it assumed me, and it was the medium voice. Male, I decided, as he was so structurally different from me and the other. Most notably was his chest, which was flat. I felt something on mine though, and I saw raises through the material that was placed over me. The name of them however, wasn't in my mind.

I tried to move my arm, and found this time that my elbow bent as I asked. I felt something on my face move and my eyes got a bit wider. I placed both my arms behind me and used them to push my back off of the floor. The material that was over top of me slid down, but now I was eyelevel with the two instead of looking up at them. The boy's face turned an interesting color and he suddenly looked away from me. I tilted my head, confused.

"Um, we found you without any clothes on," the female said, turning a lighter shade of the same color. She didn't look away from me however. I turned my gaze to her and stared at her, not computing. Clothing wasn't in my vocabulary either.

"Maybe she's deaf," the male said, still facing the other direction.

"No, she turned to me when I spoke. Maybe she doesn't speak our language." The girl looked troubled, which made me feel troubled as well. Speaking a bit louder and her mouth movements more developed she said, "Do you understand?" I didn't know how to tell her I did. Last time breathing seemed to work, so I took a deep breath and exhaled as I done before. It didn't seem as effective though, as she just frowned. I decided the only way I could get through to them was by using the method of speaking they used.

I thought for a moment the correct word to use, and thought of the sounds. Y-_yuh_. E-_eh_. S- _ss_. I opened my mouth and formed the word best I could. "Yes." I closed my mouth and frowned. It hadn't come out the way it had for them. My lips had formed the correct movements but no sound had left them. That was frustrating.

"Oh!" the female cried, her lips turning upward in what I seemed to know was called a smile. "Are you mute?" Mute meant soundless. I stopped to decide if that was the case for a moment. It seemed to be that way. Sounds didn't come from my mouth the way they should. But was I soundless? I removed my hands from the surface underneath me, then checked for a moment to see if I would stay. My other muscles held me up without the need for support, which meant I was at least working properly in that aspect. I threw my hands together and produced a loud, sharp sound. Afterwards I learned the word was _clap_. I had indeed made a sound.

"No," I mouthed. Her lips went upwards again and she made a new noise, one that wasn't any audible word but her voice worked nonetheless. It was a sound that made me sort of warm in my chest in a way I couldn't explain. I searched my mind for definitions and came up with the word _laughter_. She was laughing, although at what I couldn't tell. Laughter was usually preceded by humor of some sort, a joke. I didn't know any jokes though because I wasn't sure how to use humor effectively, so I was left in a state of confusion.

"I don't think she gets it. Can you speak?" she asked, looking back at me. _Oooh_, she meant a soundless voice. That was a more understandable question.

"No," I mouthed again. At least, right now I couldn't. I had gained the ability to open my eyes over time, so perhaps I would acquire that skill later on as well.

"Ok, now we're getting somewhere. Can you put your arms up for me?" she asked. I raised my arms so they were higher than previously, horizontal with my shoulders. My arms seemed to be working perfectly, which made me relieved. "No, all the way, like this." She held her above her head with her fingertips pointing to the ceiling, so I mimicked her. "Perfect. Now just stay like that for a minute." She took the material from my lap and opened it up at the bottom, then suddenly leaned forward and put it over my head. I couldn't see anything but the black of the shirt and the light vaguely shining through it. I began to get nervous, indicated by my slightly increased heart rate, but she said to stay there for one minute. I knew a minute was 60 seconds, but I didn't know how long a second was, so I decided to wait until she told me. I felt her lightly put her hand around one of my arms just above the elbow and direct it into one the holes. I let it go slack and it fell back to my side, the material now separating my underarm from touching my skin. That was repeated to my second arm, and then finally she tugged on the material and my head went through last, bringing my sight back into the tree house. The material hung on me, covering up my chest. As I took a closer look at the other two, they both had similar things covering their skin, however they both had something to cover their bottom halves as well. In fact, the male had only that covering him. I looked down at my legs which were bare, then up at the girl.

"There, that's a little better. That shirt is a little big, but that's actually a good thing because we don't have any pants for you right now." I continued to stare at her so she added, "Don't worry, you're covered." So the material was called a shirt. I looked back down at it. It was black and had a pattern of a buckle of some sort drawn across it from my left shoulder to my right side, and zippers that didn't seem to have any purpose on the sleeves. I reached over and tugged at the zipper and, as I guessed, it didn't move.

"Do you have a name?" the male asked me, now facing me again. I continued to tug at the zipper, because it was a question I didn't know the answer to. Maybe I did, but I didn't know it. "No?" she pressed, shaking her head. I shook my head back at her, which seemed to satisfy her. She tapped her finger on her chin and looked to the boy.

"Do you know where you're from?" he tried, and again I shook my head. He exhaled loudly- a sigh, I realized, was the word- and looked behind him. "What do you think's wrong with her Riku?" I followed his gaze and saw another male leaning against the wood near the cut out that I assumed was the entrance. He was larger built than the first boy, and his hair a startling white. It was also longer, more like a female's.

He pushed off from the wall and walked over to the smaller boy, standing next to him. He didn't sit on his knees like the other two had, but continued to stare down at me. I looked up at him and met his gaze, staring right back.

"I think you should have learned not to interfere with these things by now," he replied, crossing his arms and looking agitated. He didn't break his gaze and so neither did I. One of the corners of his mouth came up, but it wasn't really a smile the same way the girl had. I wondered idly why I had words for some things and not for others, as if my vocabulary was incomplete. Finally he broke his gaze and looked down at the smaller boy, whose lip was jutted out in a pout. He sighed and finally said, "She probably has amnesia. It means she's lost her memories."

"Sounds familiar," the girl spoke up. "Sometimes they get them back, it just takes time." She looked back at me and said, "Can you remember anything?"

I frowned, trying to think. Without meaning to I looked back up at the other boy and stared. It wasn't nostalgic exactly, but there was something about him that pulled at the corners of my mind. I couldn't really tell the difference between their three faces minus their hair, so there was nothing to pin point that made him stick out in my memory. I reached out my hand towards his face, although obviously I couldn't reach him. The boy on the floor looked a little shocked, but he himself didn't change his expression much. His eyebrows came together a little bit, but if it was out of contempt or confusion I couldn't say.

"Take her hand Riku," the girl said gently, but his hand was not what I wanted. He looked at her, clearly not wanting to either, so I dropped my arm and sighed. I shook my head at the girl, deciding what I was feeling was just my desire to have a memory and nothing substantial. He obviously didn't know who I was anymore than I did.

"Okay, how about if we give you a name then?" she offered. Without even meaning to I moved my head up and down, the opposite of the side to side movement of a negative answer. I wasn't quite sure how I knew that the opposite could be a positive answer, but I knew the name of it was a nod. It was more and more perplexing as to how I acquired all of this information, and why I could remember these things and nothing else. As far as I could tell there was nothing else to remember.

"Okay! Hm… Miyuki?" I shook my head; it sounded funny.

"Ran?" the smaller boy tried; again I shook my head. He looked to the boy who was standing, Riku, as I had come to understand, but he said nothing. The girl crossed her arms and looked irritated at his unwillingness to participate.

"Yumi?" she asked. I paused, turning it over in my head. A name was what you were called after all, you had to like it. Finally I nodded. She smiled and patted the top of my head. "Yumi it is," she said happily. I liked her warmth and the gentleness of her touch. I felt that warm feeling in my chest from earlier again, and this time I felt my mouth tentatively pull up in a smile her way. When she noticed hers only got larger. "Your smile is beautiful Yumi!" she cried. I didn't know if it was true or not, so unable to agree or disagree, I just looked away. But I had a warmness inside now, inside my mind. I had a name.


	3. Baby Steps

Things were going by rather fast. My world was developing at rapid speed, and although I was desperately trying to slow down and get ahold of my feelings, no one else seemed to notice.

"Great, ok, you have a name now. I'd say she looks about our age, right?" she wondered, looking to the two boys for an answer. They both nodded. "Ok, Yumi, 17 years old. Now you have a name and an age. The rest we'll just have to make as we go along. Does that sound ok?" I mouthed an agreement. "I'm Kairi, that's Sora, and the grumpy one is Riku." She pointed to each one in turn, including herself, which I found a bit amusing.

"Hiya!" Sora greeted, waving at me. I paused for a moment, then raised my hand and waved back at him. He grinned, which was what I had wanted and made me happy to see. I looked to Riku but didn't wave. Merely stared at him the way he did me a moment before looking back to Kairi. A gaze seemed to be his favorite form of communication, and while that was interesting I think I preferred Kairi's warmth and Sora's energetic acceptance.

"Alright, now that we've got that down, do you want us to show you around the island? Oh, and get you some real clothes. You can't keep walking around in Sora's shirt," Kairi explained, and I nodded in agreement. She pushed off with her hands and stood up, then Sora did the same next to me. I looked between the two of them with concern.

"Can you stand?" Sora asked me, but I didn't know the answer to that one either. He held out his hand for me, and after a moment of thought hesitantly reached out and took it. He wore another material similar to the shirt around his hands, but they cut off at his fingers. I stared at them, trying to decide if that would constitute pants or a shirt.

"They're gloves," he said suddenly, and I nodded. I quite liked them. "Ok, ready?" I nodded again and suddenly felt him pull on my arm. I pushed off with my feet and felt myself rising until I was standing up completely as they were. My eye level went over Kairi's and was about the same level as Sora's, if not a little bit higher as well. I could feel the pressure of the wood against my feet, but I was afraid to let go of Sora's hand should I fall over. "Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall," he assured me, and so I released his hand. I had to readjust my weight on my feet to keep my balance and my arms waved involuntarily immediately upon the release, but after a moment I knew I wasn't going to fall. I looked up from my feet to smile at Sora, a bit more confident than the first one I had done. I noticed Riku's expression change when I did so, but it was only for a second before he looked away again. I wondered if I was in some way bothersome to him.

"Great," Sora said, smiling back at me. He took a few steps backward to give me room and continued with, "Now see if you can take a few steps." I looked down at my feet, unsure how well this was going to go. But, if they could do it there was nothing to suggest I couldn't. I looked back up because seeing the act would only trip me up, then pulled my right foot underneath me and quickly moved it forward. I felt my weight balance change but I didn't fall. Gaining some confidence now, I repeated the action with a little more haste, providing the same result. I was walking! Again I went, this time with fewer pauses. I know I probably didn't look very good, but at least I was managing to stay on my feet.

"See? Easy!" I heard Kairi say behind me, but I was afraid if I responded I was going to lose my concentration and fall. I could already feel myself going farther forward than I should, but I was very close to Sora so I just dove for it really. Our hands met a second later and I used them for balance to put myself up right again. I looked from our hands to Sora's face and grinned at my accomplishment.

"Good job! We should probably work on that for a little bit longer before we try the ladder though," he mentioned, which I actually preferred. If I was going to be doing this for any distance I wanted to be a bit surer on my feet. "Try going to Kairi now." I nodded and turned around, seeing Kairi was all the way on the other end of the tree house, hands extended. I took a breath and moved my foot forward, starting the process all over again.

"It's weird… she walks like a baby," I heard Riku remark. _Baby, an infant, someone brand new to life_. I supposed that was an accurate description, at least for now. I didn't see it as an insult, but apparently not everyone agreed with me.

"Riku!" Kairi hissed, looking to him with a distressed expression.

"I wasn't trying to be mean! Look, people suffering from amnesia aren't usually like this. They have certain instincts, long term memories that are so ingrained in their brains they don't forget. Language is one, which she obviously understands even if she can't speak it. And walking is _supposed_ to be another. But she looks like she's never walked in her life before," he explained. I wondered if it was typical to speak of people in the third person, as if they weren't even there. I couldn't give him any answer of course, but it felt like these were observations that should have been directed more towards me, given the subject matter.

"Maybe she just has it worse than them," Kairi replied simply, not looking like she wanted to hear it. Our hands met a moment later and she smiled at me. "No baby can learn that fast. You're doing great Yumi. Why don't you try walking to Riku now?" I looked at her skeptically. I was almost sure that was the last thing he wanted. "Don't worry, he acts all tough but he's really a sweetie. He won't let you fall." I turned around and looked at him, frowning slightly. He didn't look all that happy about it either, and for a moment it looked like he was going to leave us to our own devices. Then he sighed and opened his arms, hands extended for me.

Something tugged at the back of my mind again, and words came with it. I mouthed, "Thank you," and smiled briefly at him. Something in his expression changed again, although I couldn't tell what it was exactly. It made his gaze less intimidating, at any rate. I took a step forward, feeling less and less shaky the further I went on. When I finally reached him, I didn't take his hands but tried to stop and stay steady on my own. It worked alright until I tried to spin around and put too much weight on my toes. I started to tumble backwards, throwing my arms out to break the fall. I didn't even get that far though before I felt his arms hook underneath mine and stop me before I hit the floor. I tilted my head to look back at his face, thoroughly surprised.

"What? You thought I was going to let you fall?" he questioned, looking vaguely irritated. I shook my head and quickly regained my balance again, out of his arms.

"Hey Sora? Do you mind if we give her your pants to wear? I can get a belt from my house, but she's too tall for my clothes," Kairi said suddenly. I looked to Sora, who was bright red and looking in all directions but my own. The shirt was just barely long enough to cover below my hips, and I assumed that when I had fallen backwards the shirt hadn't been able to cover me properly.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be right back Yumi!" Sora cried, smiling at me awkwardly before making his way out the door.

Kairi put her hands on her hips and stared intently at Riku. "Watch her," she ordered, her voice containing force behind it. "And be nice. I mean it Riku." With Sora, the two of them descended down the ladder, leaving me alone with Riku. As they left together I heard pieces of their conversation floating up into the tree house, most if it comments like, "You were so staring at her Sora!" followed by cries of pain and impassioned denials.


End file.
